Wire stretcher, clamp, and splicer.



No. 776,937. PATENTED DEC. 6, 1904.

H. RAINES.- WIRE STRETGHER, CLAMP, AND SPLICER APPLICATION FILED MAR.'1. 1904A 2 SHEETS-SHEET' 1.

.N0 MODEL.

. No. 776,937. PATENTED DC. 6, 1904.

H. RAINES. f

WIRE STRETGHER, CLAMP, AND SPLIGER.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 1. 1904.

.No MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

n vw) j@ 0 hln @4a/newton @Hor/nud J i Arns Param? Patented December 6,1904.

FFICEe HENRY RAINES, UF MASON, TEXAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 776,937, dated December6, 1904. Application iiled March 7, 1904.' Serial No. 197,017. (Nomodel.)

To rif/ZZ whom, Il?? 7am/y con/cern:

Be it known that l, H nNinRAINns, a citizen of the United States,residing1 at Mason, in the county of Mason, State oi' Texas, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements .in WV ire Stretchers,Clamps, and Splicers; and AlV do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description et' the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

This invention relates to fence building and repairing tools; and it hasi'or its object to provide a construction in which may be ii rml yclamped and held the ends ot' wires to be stretched and spliced, and,further, to provide means for stretching and splicing the wires.

A further object ol.I the invention is to provide a construction whichwill stretch and splice the wire at one operation.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a tool which may beemployed for stretching wires in the ordinary operation el. buildingaience.

In the drawings formino' a iortion of this l 'l e y l 5 specification,and 1n whlch hke numerals ol.

reference indicate similar parts in the several views, Figure l is anelevation otl the complete tool. Fig. 2 is a view showing thescrew-threaded member in longitudinal hori- Zontal section and thewire-clamps in top plan. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the tool. Fig. 4:is a transverse section through the threaded members of the tool. Fig. 5is an elevation showing the op posite' end from that illustrated in Fig.3.

Referring new to the drawings, there is shown a tool comvirising acylindrical member or barrel 5, having a slot 6 formed longitudinally ofone side thereof and throughout its length, one end of the barrel 5having an inwardly-directed iiange 7, from which iiange to the oppositeend the barrel is internally threaded, as shown at 8. A tubular screw 9is engaged in the barrel 5 and is adjustable into and out of the barrel,said screw having' a longitudinal slot 11,whicheXte11ds throughout itslength and which is adapted for registration with the slot 6 for apurpose to be presently explained. rlhe outer end et' the screw has anenlargement or head 12.

From the Vfianged end oiE the barrel 5 there projects at right angles tothe barrel a plate 13, having it'ornied thereon a lug 111, one tace ofwhich is convex, as shown at 15, and which forms a clamjiiing-jaw, withwhich cooperates the jaw 16 upon a lever 17, which is hinged at one endto the plate 13. To move the lever 17, with its jaw 16, in the directionoi' the jaw 15 to exert a clamping action, athumbscrew 18 is provided,which is engaged through an ear 19, that projects trom the plate 13 andbears against the lever 17 at the opposite side thereot` trom the jaw15. From the head o1 the screw 9 there projects a plate 20,corresponding to the plate 13 and having a lug 21, provided with aconvex gripping face or jaw 22,witli which cooperates a jaw 23, formedon a lever 2K1-, that is pivoted to the plate 20. A screw 25 is engagedthrough au ear 26 and presses against the lever 24 to carry its jawagainst the jaw 22.

ln the use of this tool in splicing' wires the screw is adjusted orscrewed into the member ,with the longitudinal slots registering. Theends of the wires to be connected are then passed through the slots andinto the bores oi" the screw and body, the extremities of the wiresprojecting from the ends of the screw and body, respectively. The endsof the wires are then bent against the plates 13 and 20, respectively,to lie between the grippingjaws thereof, and the thumb-screws are thenmanipulated to clamp the wires between the jaws. The ends of the wiresbeing' now iirrnly gripped, the screw is backed out oit the body 5 byrotating it, so that the wire held in its clamp is wrapped around theother wire, and at the saine time the two wires are drawn longitudinallypast each other to give them the proper tension.

Vhen the tool is to be used as a wire-grip,

the wire may be engaged directly between the gripping-jaws withoutpassing through either the screw or the body, and it will be noted thatthe lever of each of the wireclamps has a perforation 8O at its outerend, through which is engaged a ring 31 for connecting any suitableholding means, such as a chain.

l/Vhen the tool is to be used as a wire- IOO stretcher alone, one end ofthe tool may be disposed against the post, and the wire to be stretchedmay be taken past the post, then through the body and screw, and finallyengaged with the clamp at the opposite end. By then expanding the toolby backing out the screw the wire will be stretched.

rlhe carrying-plate of each of the wireclamps has a notch 35 formedtherein, one side of which forms a cutting edge 37, which coperatieswith a cutting edge 38, formed on the lever of the clamp, so that whenthelever is moved by operation of the thumb-screw these cutting edgesare moved with respect to each other to shear a wire engaged in thenotch.

It will be understood that in practice modiiications or' the specificconstruction shown may be made and any suitable materials andproportions maybe used for the various parts without departing from thespirit of the invention.

What is claimed isl. A device of the class described comprising twomembers rotatably connected and having registering passages therethroughand a wireclamp carried by each member, said clamps being disposed forengagement with the projecting ends of wires passed through the passagesin opposite directions.

2. A device of the class described comprising an internally-threadedcylindrical body having a longitudinal slot leading to the interiorthereof, a wire-clamp at one end or' said body, a tubular screw engagedwith said body at the opposite end from the wire-clamp and having' alongitudinal slot for registration with that of the body, and awire-clamp at the outer end of the screw.

3. A device of the class described comprising a wire-clamp including aplate having a fixed jaw, a lever pivoted to the plate and having a jawfor cooperation with the iixed jaw, an ear upon the plate and athumb-screw engaged with the ears and impinging against the lever, saidplate and lever having coperating cutting' edges.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY RAINES.

lVitnesses:

A. N. MoURsUND, ED SMITH.

